A Faith That Boasts in Affliction
Romans 5:3-5
Turn to Romans 5. When a person comes to Christ as Saviour and Lord, something must happen. One is from Romans 10, that a person must hear the gospel. No one will come to Christ without hearing the good news of what Christ has done. Everyone here this morning who knows Christ as Saviour and Lord heard that good news somewhere, from someone. Paul says in Romans 10, “How will they believe in Him in whom they have not heard?” But secondly, they not only need to hear, but they need to have their eyes opened, for the Bible teaches that the human heart is dead and will not respond to the gospel unless the Holy Spirit quickens the dead sinner. Paul teaches this in the book of Ephesians 1:18, “the eyes of your heart having been enlightened.” In Acts 26:18, Paul described his commissioning to the unsaved:
“[T]o open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins.”
Acts 26:18 (LSB)
So, a person must first hear the gospel message, and then that person must have their eyes opened to see the truth of that gospel, so that they would desire Christ, so that they might believe. And immediately upon that belief, that person becomes a Christian, a believer, and as we have been learning, that new Christian has his sin taken away by Christ, and the righteousness of Christ is then given to him, where the death of Christ becomes our death, and His life becomes our life. Our sins, which were done by you and me, were laid on Christ. And His righteousness, which He performed, is laid upon us. And the sins that Christ did not commit were placed upon Him. And the righteousness that He performed was placed upon us. He died our death, and we receive His righteousness. The words of Graham Kendrick’s song Amazing Love:
Amazing love, O what sacrifice
The Son of God given for me
My debt He pays, and my death He dies
That I might live
This is what is termed in the Bible as being justified, being declared righteous by God. So, here we have this picture of the new believer, who was spiritually dead and who became spiritually alive. Paul says that God has made us alive together with Christ. And in this journey that we are on, we learned last week that God is changing us into the image of His Son. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that we are being transformed, and part of that transformation process includes what Paul calls here, afflictions. Paul writes (vs 3), and not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions.
In the story of A Christmas Carol, when Jacob Marley comes to visit Scrooge, the initial news from Marley is quite positive. Marley tells of his own fate, which he had to undergo after his life, but he offers Scrooge a “chance of hope,” to which Scrooge says, thank you, Marley. And then he says, “Jacob, you were always a good friend of mine.” And then Marley goes on to explain that the “chance of hope” is that Scrooge would be visited by three spirits, to which Scrooge responds, “Is that the ‘chance of hope’ you spoke of, Jacob? In that case, I’d rather not, I’d rather not.”
So, too, our faith in Christ is really considered this exciting life, a life where we have every reason to live, but then there is a warning given, afflictions. And Jesus speaks this way with His followers as well. He says (John 16:33) in Me you will have peace, that’s the buildup, the excitement, but in the world, you will have tribulation, that’s the warning. And this needs to be talked about because this is a whole lifetime of challenges that God will choose to require the Christian to experience, between the time of our justification, being declared righteous by God, and our eternal future in heaven. Now, it might be nice if God chose to eliminate that timeframe in between. Maybe we might rather be the thief on the cross, who went almost immediately from becoming a Christian to glory. However, we must understand that God has a purpose for bringing us through these trials, which has something to do with our maturity in Christ and has much to do with our lives, bringing glory to God.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5 (LSB)
The Christian will inevitably face trials, but they are not without purpose, for they are meant to produce high character in the life of the Christian. And nowhere in the New Testament does it say we will never face trials. The truth of Christianity is that Christ will never fail the believer. But this does not mean that the believer will not have to endure afflictions. In fact, this truth is sometimes not clearly taught when sharing the gospel. The fact that there will be direct intentional times of affliction, toward the believer, given by God, but with an intended purpose. And therefore, sometimes the person who comes to Christ without that understanding will eventually fall away from Christ. This exemplifies the person in the parable of the soils who heard the Word of God and immediately received it with joy. But (Matt 13:21) it was only temporary, and when affliction or persecution came, he immediately fell away. And the assumption in the parable was that his faith proved to be false. This is the person who may be controlled by feelings or believes that salvation means continuous happiness without trial, and therefore, his presumed belief, not genuine belief, will, at some point, be gone, proving there was never any real faith. So, this morning, we are going to learn about the great advantages of afflictions, whether we want to or not. Maybe we will be like Scrooge and say, I’d rather not, I’d rather not.
First, notice what Paul says about these struggles (vs 3) “We also boast about our afflictions.” I always remember Gary Stairs, who used to be a teacher at Word of Life Bible Institute, anytime he was teaching about Paul, and how Paul was always to the max in his Christianity, he used to say, if I had a teenage son in New Testament times, I might tell him to quit hanging around with Paul. Pick out a Christian friend who is a little less fanatical, so you won’t end up in jail. In other words, be a little more cautious in your Christianity. Well, unfortunately, this teaching of Paul is from God Himself, for this is what God intends. And the Person we are to become like, Jesus Christ, He also spoke very similarly to Paul, as Christ gave no promises of easy-believism. So, I guess we have to ask the question here, how are we to respond to trials? Well, Paul says that we are to boast in them or glory in them. He also calls them (2 Cor 4:17), “light and momentary troubles,” I mean, Paul will not even let us bellyache about them.
And if we think that this is only Paul, well, maybe we should listen to Peter, who said in this you greatly rejoice, though now you are going through trials. Yet our thought might be, no, Peter, I will only rejoice when the trials are over. Or maybe we should listen to James, who said, consider it all joy whenever you face trials of various kinds. Interestingly, all three of these guys lost their lives for Christ. So, our response might be, well, I just want to be one of those safe Christians. You know that guy who dies on his deathbed at age eighty-five with his family around him and thinks back and says, boy, that was easy! Well, God certainly has different plans for different believers, and it is not our call to which plan the Lord designates to each one.
So, what is to be the Christian’s response to trials, afflictions, pressures, stresses, difficulties, illnesses, or persecutions? Well, if the Christian grumbles and complains about them, he fails. And I believe we would understand that as well. But secondly, if the Christian merely puts up with them, it will seem that he is missing all the benefits that Paul is listing here in this passage. And we could conclude from the passage that the Christian would never want to come to afflictions with that kind of a negative spirit, for we would never want to come to view the very purposes of God for us without some kind of gracious acceptance of them. So, the third choice is for the Christian to boast or glory in these afflictions. And the challenging part about this teaching is that the Christian is not glorying in spite of them, but Paul says we are to glory or boast on account of them. I love what I read from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who said this is not the Apostle Paul who just happens to be in a good mood and having a good day when he wrote this, for listen to what Jesus said as well:
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.”
Matthew 5:11-12a (LSB)
Rejoice, and some of your translations say, and be exceedingly glad. You can’t get too much more excited than that. Now, it does not mean that we are happy in this, in the sense that we are happy when we enjoy a great meal, or when we are laughing with friends, or taking a walk on a beautiful day, for nobody likes trials or should like them in that sense. But why can we glory in these or boast in these? Or how are we to rejoice in these? Well, it may be that our reaction to these trials may not even come immediately. I went golfing once in a while with Pastor Brackstone when I was a teen. He would have been in his late seventies at the time, maybe even eighty. And I remember his shot that went into the creek on hole number nine at the Blenheim golf course, and immediately he said, praise the Lord! I have to admit, my competitive nature did not allow me to be quite there yet spiritually. So, maybe our reaction to these afflictions is not necessarily an automatic one, that they come, immediately we say, praise the Lord! All right! I am paraphrasing this, but Martyn Lloyd-Jones said this:
The Christian is the man or woman who is enabled to glory in affliction as the result of the application of his or her faith.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
True, at first, the Christian may be troubled or unhappy, but it is our faith that teaches us something we know. Look at (vs 3) “knowing that.” Church family, we boast or glory in our afflictions because we know something. See, the Christian life is not a knee-jerk reaction. No, it’s taking life as a whole and considering what we know about God and His purposes for all things. I have said this before, that if there is one thing that I teach you as a congregation while I am here, it is a deeper understanding of God. Because when we understand God more deeply, we better understand life and our purpose for being here. And our knowledge of God dictates exactly how we will respond to the purposeful challenges of life.
Now, I want to state three things at this point. One, that we do not take this lightly. Some of the afflictions that we face are very hard. This teaching does not mean that we do not mourn or lament some of the things that we go through or that our brothers and sisters in Christ go through. This is not a message from Paul that, on a surface level, says, shake it off. And secondly, to also understand that this comes from Paul, who faced more than his fair share of hostility. So, he understands our plight. He knows exactly what he is teaching here, just as Christ understands our weaknesses and struggles. And thirdly, however, afflictions are real, and we will face them, and they have been determined by God for us. John Piper said, if you do not have troubles, something is wrong with you. The writer of Acts describes Paul’s ministry in Acts 14:22:
“[S]trengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.’”
Acts 14:22 (LSB)
See, if you do not have troubles, something is wrong with you. And we are not talking about self-inflicted problems, or chaos at home because of your leading, or trouble at work because of your attitude, or finance problem because of your foolishness. No, we are talking here about direct afflictions that come into the life of the Christian that God has purposely allowed for your ultimate good, and these may include significant sadness, loss, or sickness. And understand that this ability to approach afflictions in this way is way beyond human ability, as to rejoice in tribulation is not natural for us. But we have already read, verse 2:
“[T]hrough whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:2 (LSB)
We will stand! Listen to the believers in Macedonia, who were the Philippians believers:
“Now brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great testing by affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the richness of their generosity. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord.”
- Corinthians 8:1-3 (LSB)
This is a real story of real people who had the ability to give. Surprising that we do not read later that these people were living the life, teaching us not to go anywhere near the lies of the prosperity gospel. But these people gave in spite of their great affliction. So, why the afflictions? What is the reason for these determined afflictions from God? And as I give you these—and there are three of them—I also want to leave you with some lessons along the way. So, first, why affliction?
PERSEVERANCE
“And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance.”
Romans 5:3 (LSB)
The King James here says that tribulation worketh patience. Paul wrote:
“For our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”
- Corinthians 4:17 (LSB)
Bearing down and working through, not giving up, persevering. Good encouragement to us as parents. And sometimes, especially to us as Dads, to not give up. To have every confidence in God as we lead our families. And the first lesson I wish to give you here is regarding our response when we face these afflictions and our inability to tackle them on our own, and it is this: When afflictions come, we must be reminded of the great need for Christ, and therefore, these afflictions ought to push us back to Him. Would that not be a massive purpose for afflictions, to remind us of our need for Christ, and our inability to persevere through afflictions alone?
Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “The fresh need [i.e. the next affliction] makes the Christian realize he needs a fresh supply of grace from Christ.” Our faith must always drive us back to Christ, “knowing” that this affliction, this is all about truth and real life and is always part of a real faith. We can tend as people to overestimate ourselves. We always think that things with us are better than they are. Yet trials allow us to see ourselves as we really are. We realize we are not as strong as we thought. Think of Peter before he denies Christ. Think of Job, how this man, whom God said was the greatest man on earth, and yet he spoke and said wrong things about God. So, what about us, as I am no Job? I do not think that God is bragging to Satan, saying, look at my servant Mark Ottaway. I always enjoy Paul Washer’s comment:
“There is no such thing as a great man of God, only weak, pitiful, faithless men of a great and merciful God.”
Paul Washer
And as God, through His grace and mercy, works in us, and allows our understanding of the Christian life to grow deeper. So that when the next trial comes along, we are even more settled in our faith, and we can persevere. Secondly (vs 4) and perseverance brings:
PROVEN CHARACTER
Some of your Bibles will say, experience. But it is really proven experience or proven character, as it is not just experience alone. In other words, the Christian’s faith is proven as a result of a trial. James wrote:
“Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James 1:2-4 (LSB)
Peter wrote that the proof of your faith might be more precious than gold. When we go through affliction well, this is proven character. And Paul’s argument is really this: how is proven character known apart from it being tested? And we might believe the benefit of proven character is the fact that others know we have faith. Or I suppose we might think of this as a test in life, as when you take a test at school, the teacher then knows that the student understands the work, and therefore, his knowledge is proven to the teacher. But in this case, the Teacher is God. And God already knows whether we are true people of faith. Therefore, the proven character is not for God’s benefit but is for our benefit. Is that not true? Is it not true that afflictions prove our faith to us. We spoke about the man in the parable of the soils whose faith proved false, it says:
“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
Matthew 13:22 (ESV)
Yet the one who heard the Word and understood the Word, the one who bore fruit, this is the one whose faith proved fruitful. And this is not about perfection. We are studying Job on Sunday evenings, a man who admitted his own sinfulness, and yet his faith always drove him back to God in repentance for his sin, as even that repentance, through hardship proved Job’s true faith, his proven character.
“[A]nd perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope.”
Romans 5:4 (LSB)
HOPE
Going through all these events in life makes us more certain that we are destined for (vs 2) the hope of the glory of God. Show me a person who has triumphed through various trials, and we will see an individual who has a great hope in God. Psalm 119:71:
“It is good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.”
Psalm 119:71 (LSB)
In other words, affliction faced in the right biblical way results in a greater knowledge of the truth. The Christian life is strange as we hope for that which we have not yet seen. But our faith, though unseen, grows through afflictions. Therefore, the truth of our faith, or we could say, the assurance of our faith, is dependent upon God-directed afflictions. So, let me give you this second lesson: There is something about God-ordained affliction that assures the believer the truth of their faith, that they would have never known such assurance outside of that affliction. And this becomes the Christian’s hope. How does this work? One of the great obstacles to hope is the fear that you might be a fake Christian, a hypocrite. That yes, you come to church, but you like being at church. This is where your friends are. Church and church people are a good influence on your children, and the music is good. But God designs affliction for the sake of your genuineness, or for the sake of a greater assurance. And notice Paul writes:
“[A]nd hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Romans 5:5 (LSB)
John Piper wrote:
“The hope that arises from a proven faith, an authentic faith, will not disappoint us because God gives us the experience of His love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”
John Piper “We Exult in Tribulations”
Now, we have many truths given to us in the Bible, but this (vs 5) actually goes beyond that, as this is the experience of the love of God being poured out in our hearts. In other words, this is something that we are not only reading, but that we have also experienced the love of God. Paul wrote:
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13 (LSB)
And in our passage (vs 5), “Hope does not put to shame,” or does not disappoint. Why? Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. This is a supernatural work of God, again, unseen, yet truly experienced in the life of the believer. But this experience of the believer is also something that is based upon real truth. I mean, we would understand this in regular life as well, for we certainly know that our spouse loves us. After all, they married us, they said “I do” at the church service. They committed to us that through thick and thin they would stand by us. But I trust that we also experience that love as well, through many avenues in life.
And here we have a God who has said He would never leave us or forsake us. And we know the truth of His love through the record of Scripture. Right from the very beginning of Genesis to the very end of Revelation. We have sixty-six books of real history, real events, real promises, real prophecy, all explaining the great love of God to those who are called. But I also trust that we also know that love experientially, that we know the love of God because it has been poured into our hearts, and that has been proven even through the afflictions that God has purposely brought into our lives. So, let me close with this lesson: The love of God is known throughout the pages of Scripture, but it has also been poured out on our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and therefore we both know God’s love intellectually through His Word and His love experientially through His Spirit. Amazing love, amen? Amazing love, O what sacrifice. The Son of God given for me. My debt he pays, and my death he dies, That I might live. Do you believe that with all your heart? Because it is the Christian who is enabled by God to glory in affliction, as the result of the application of his or her faith. In other words, we can face afflictions because we know God well and we trust His work and His character.
Afflictions, struggles, great inconveniences, not problems that we bring upon ourselves, but hard circumstances that God not only allows, but determines. And I am no spiritual giant. I don’t wish for these things. I do not pray, Lord, may I face a massive affliction today, for when they do come, it can be a great struggle. But I believe what we can do in our weak faith is pray, Lord, we know You will bring to us afflictions for our good and for Your glory, and through the application of our faith—even weak faith—may we see Your hand and may we bring You glory by our response. One of our lessons tonight in our study of Job, and I am finding so much overlap right now between Sunday morning and Sunday evening, it is this: suffering is a major part of our witness for Christ. The greatest cause of suffering for the Christian is often our witness to the glory of God. And that ought to change our whole perspective on suffering or should change our desire to even want to avoid suffering, as even an imperfect witness is valid and can bring glory to God.
Let’s pray. Lord, what an amazing love, but also what an amazing life. The reason for our lives and the purposes that You have determined for us are uniquely tied to each of our paths in life, which You have ordained for those who love You. Lord, we can hardly say thank You enough for Your plans and purposes for us. Might we face them with joy as we think deeply of why You have chosen every step of our path. That through all our experiences, not the shallow ones, but the deep ones and even the hard ones, showcase to ourselves and to the world Your greatness. And that the outcome would be a wonderful assurance of our faith and a great assurance of Your love. And all God’s people said, amen.